Where to install turret camera I'm about to purchase?

[mahman]

Hello!

About to put in my first order for one camera and will build up from there. Recently was able to score an Optiplex on Ebay for a good price so will be going the Blue Iris route. Will be ordering this for my front door camer: NSC-2X2-DM 2MP WDR EXIR Turret IP Security Camera 2.8mm - Nelly's Security

Question: Where would the best place to install it be?

Front Door:

From inside top corner of door:

Walkway:

Would junction box centered above the door be best? Or easier just attach it to the wood already to the top right of the entryway? Thinking if i put it on that diagonal piece on top right, it might be to high? Or maybe attach a wall mount to that piece and have the turret hang from it?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Edited: added more photos

 

[Kawboy12R]

Depending on the view outwards, I'd probably say on the same wall as the light and above the doorbell at about face height angled to look out what I assume are steps to the right unless the main approach is straight out from the door and that opening to the right isn't the main entryway to that porch. You don't want that light directly in the FOV of the camera and will probably also want some view of the approach to the door outside the FOV of the picture you attached. We can't judge what we can't see. Attached to that angled roof truss is definitely too high. There appears to be stairs there to the right so that adds even more height above face level until they reach the main level at the door and they'll be looking down when coming up the stairs. They'll probably look up a bit to ring the doorbell and be looking that way. If you go with the door's wall, then a 3.6 between the door and the window and above the ADT sticker unless you want to balance facial ID with view outwards down what I've assumed are steps, and then as low over the door as possible on the hinge side. Remember, you won't want that bright light directly in the FOV of the camera so a 2.8 won't necessarily be your friend even if you want to cover the whole porch and the distances are short.

 

[zero-degrees]

Really need to see a better picture of the front of the house as this isn't "simple" based on this entry.

I am not a fan of turrets at face height - they are big and somewhat bulky and stand out when mounted low. They blend really well when mounted under an overhang or eve. I am a huge supporter of turrets for the better IR image, but again, if you are going to mount low/head height on the door bell wall I would consider a mini dome for the porch and possibly a turret under the eve shooting what is prob. a walkway as you approach the front of the house.

Again, I'd like to see a better shot of the front of the house/area we have to work with here.

 

[mahman]

Oh man, sorry for not enough photos! Added more to the original post!

Depending on the view outwards, I'd probably say on the same wall as the light and above the doorbell at about face height angled to look out what I assume are steps to the right unless the main approach is straight out from the door and that opening to the right isn't the main entryway to that porch. You don't want that light directly in the FOV of the camera and will probably also want some view of the approach to the door outside the FOV of the picture you attached. We can't judge what we can't see. Attached to that angled roof truss is definitely too high. There appears to be stairs there to the right so that adds even more height above face level until they reach the main level at the door and they'll be looking down when coming up the stairs. They'll probably look up a bit to ring the doorbell and be looking that way. If you go with the door's wall, then a 3.6 between the door and the window and above the ADT sticker unless you want to balance facial ID with view outwards down what I've assumed are steps, and then as low over the door as possible on the hinge side. Remember, you won't want that bright light directly in the FOV of the camera so a 2.8 won't necessarily be your friend even if you want to cover the whole porch and the distances are short.

Can't believe I didn't think about the light being in the FOV and messing the video up. Thanks! Because I get Amazon packages delivered right there on doorstep, I should probably still want to be able to get person walking up and grabbing packages for video evidence. Will probably make that tougher in terms of where I can place and not have the light be in the FOV.

 

[Kawboy12R]

I think you will find that a 3.6 will show just about every detail you would need except perhaps if the mail carrier put the package on the ground by the door and you need to see if the package is there at all times. The camera would show everybody coming up to the door, and then show them after they left the package up and leave with it. I think it would be rare for somebody to be able to come up and take a package and turn around and you not see it on the camera. If you want, you could even turn the lens in the camera vertically instead of sideways and use it in corridor mode. Basically, instead of wide and short you will get tall and skinny. That is a bit awkward for live viewing on a sideways landscape widescreen but is often the best way of capturing every detail in a long skinny space like a corridor, some entryways, or long skinny room. I agree with zero-degrees on the aesthetics of turret vs dome but turret often beats a dome by a long shot at night if you are forced to use the internal IR LEDs by dim lighting.

 

[mahman]

I think you will find that a 3.6 will show just about every detail you would need except perhaps if the mail carrier put the package on the ground by the door and you need to see if the package is there at all times. The camera would show everybody coming up to the door, and then show them after they left the package up and leave with it. I think it would be rare for somebody to be able to come up and take a package and turn around and you not see it on the camera. If you want, you could even turn the lens in the camera vertically instead of sideways and use it in corridor mode. Basically, instead of wide and short you will get tall and skinny. That is a bit awkward for live viewing on a sideways landscape widescreen but is often the best way of capturing every detail in a long skinny space like a corridor, some entryways, or long skinny room. I agree with zero-degrees on the aesthetics of turret vs dome but turret often beats a dome by a long shot at night if you are forced to use the internal IR LEDs by dim lighting.

hmm, man, my porch light location is really making this difficult then. Yeah, that might not be aesthetically pleasing to have a turret/dome sticking out right there under the light/above doorbell..

Think I gotta keep thinking on this/gathering opinions before I figure out what camera to get now.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Looking at the new pictures you added, I would say that a 3.6 in corridor mode mounted either in the strip between door and window or just above the door and maybe a titch to the hinge side of the door handle could see the floor in front of the door, miss the light by a hair, and catch the whole walkway and out into the road and do a passing job to the left of the walk. Not sure if a 2.8 in corridor mode would be better, still miss the light, and give you a bit view more to the left without "wasting" FOV on the protrusion though. Whichever when you get you might want to temporarily mount it on something like a 2 by 4 stuck in a bucket of sand and experiment with the best view before drilling and mounting.

It's not TOO complicated though. Much of this is just minor improvements or tweaking and being fussy. With the long straight approach and no aversion to corridor mode (looks worse because it's smaller in live view) then either dome, turret, 3.6 or 2.8 should work. Just play a little with mounting and view through the cam before committing to drilling.

 

[looney2ns]

Learn to use this: Camera Calculator / Design Software it's helps tremendously.

Keep PPF >100

 

[Jack B Nimble]

Learn to use this: Camera Calculator / Design Software it's helps tremendously.

Keep PPF >100

That would be difficult to see on google earth under a roof would it not ? Nayr's suggested tool is great for driveways,m yards etc. IT was me for looking at the main entry and with ability to hide wires I would go with this.

 

[looney2ns]

Works fine for me, I have a similar entrance. It still shows you the FOV based on placement and lense.

 

[mahman]

I actually just asked my in-laws (home construction) how hard it'd be to move that light to above my doorway, they said they'd get back to me... Guessing I could just terminate the wiring from the switch inside on the wall behind the door to that light, then re run it in the drywall above my door. So that's another idea that could help alleviate this camera placement issue...

 

[tangent]

Mount the camera to a long 1x4 or a tripod and try it in a bunch of the locations you're considering. Pay attention to night performance.
Once you've got narrowed down some, evaluate how hard it would be to run the cable / how ugly conduit would look in that location. Aesthetically something near jack's suggestion or a mini dome below the porch light on the left side is probably what i'd choose.

What's to the left of the door? Your garage or something else (windows looked atypical for a garage)?

The mini dome / wedge style of camera mentioned earlier looks like this:
DH-IPC-HDBW42A1FN-AS(I)

I wouldn't move the porch light, but if you did it almost might have to be something like an outdoor chandelier to look right.

 

[mahman]

Mount the camera to a long 1x4 or a tripod and try it in a bunch of the locations you're considering. Pay attention to night performance.
Once you've got narrowed down some, evaluate how hard it would be to run the cable / how ugly conduit would look in that location. Aesthetically something near jack's suggestion or a mini dome below the porch light on the left side is probably what i'd choose.

What's to the left of the door? Your garage or something else (windows looked atypical for a garage)?

The mini dome / wedge style of camera mentioned earlier looks like this:
DH-IPC-HDBW42A1FN-AS(I)

I wouldn't move the porch light, but if you did it almost might have to be something like an outdoor chandelier to look right.

Yeah will definitely toss it on one of my spare 2x4s before I actually mount it. Problem though is figuring out which style of camera to order first too based on where I'm going to put it haha. Chicken and egg.... That left side of the walkway/door is the garage so that's where I was planning on putting my POE switch, that way I could have the switch closer to the cameras and run two cables from there for the front door camera and future camera above center of garage door. So I'd drill a hole from garage to front porch, run cable where I'd need to, and paint over it.

Mini-dome does seem like it'd work, but that's kind of heading out of my initial budget for starting out. NSC-254S-DM 4MP WDR Mini Dome IP Security Camera with Built-in Microphone 2.8mm - 4 MP - IP Cameras - Hi-Def Cameras - Cameras - Nelly's Security. I know Aliexpress has cheaper, but for now I just want to stay comfortable with ordering from Nellys to start

Chandelier style, yeah that'd look better, but man, that seems harder and getting to be a lot more work with my vaulted ceiling right there.. could always go for something like this later on Design House Mason RLM Oil-Rubbed Bronze Outdoor Wall-Mount Dark-Sky Downlight-519504 - The Home Depot to put above door for better style purposes.

And here I thought, this would be a simple pick a spot and toss the camera up there job, hah!

Appreciate everyone's insight so far!

 

[zero-degrees]

Mini-dome does seem like it'd work, but that's kind of heading out of my initial budget for starting out. NSC-254S-DM 4MP WDR Mini Dome IP Security Camera with Built-in Microphone 2.8mm - 4 MP - IP Cameras - Hi-Def Cameras - Cameras - Nelly's Security. I know Aliexpress has cheaper, but for now I just want to stay comfortable with ordering from Nellys to start

I've never understood Nelly's pricing on select items, as much as I recommend them to new users here because of their USA operation, warranty, as well as support I don't get markup on specific items. I support "businesses" more than anyone knowing that everyone needs to make money, but their are a few items on their site I just scratch my head because they are marked up so high, while other items are competitive to market price.

Search around the forum for @milkisbad, he can assist you with ordering via LTS, that camera will be a substantial savings going that route. The 3MP version will be around $100 less via him.

 

[Jack B Nimble]

I would never use dome unless inside I suggest a turret and if Dahua get the built in mic, helpful at door.Something like this but, naturally that vari focal if stocked woudl be perfect.

Aliexpress.com : Buy DaHua IPC HDW4431C A POE Network IR Mini Dome IP Camera With Built in Micro Full HD 1080P 4MP CCTV Camera from Reliable dome ball suppliers on XinRay Store

 

[mahman]

So finally put up the camera: NSC-2X2-DM 2MP WDR EXIR Turret IP Security Camera 2.8mm - Nelly's Security

I put it in the top right slanted corner for testing. I'm not sure I like it there as discussed in the thread. Light on right side and also too high. Seeing the photos, would a 4mm camera be better also? And then, is my only real other option the mini dome below the light? Like the CMIP3142W-28S in LTS catalog? Although, it'd seem to be in such a precarious position being so low; then I can move the nelly 2.8 turret to right above the garage. I'm struggling to figure out placement to figure out a good viewpoint.

Camera location:

Light on:

Light off:

 

[tangent]

You might try a little lower and farther forward like this:

With the camera mounted to the beam and rotated 90 degrees. I'm not sure it would be much better but it's worth a try. You can put it in corridor mode or otherwise rotate the image in software. Somebody might be able to slip past the camera in this location.

2.8mm gets some fisheye distortion. 4mm would probably do better, but nothing beats playing with a varifocal camera.

 

[mahman]

Hmm... guessing I should swap this 2.8 to front garage and then maybe order the Dahua Starlight Varifocal everyone is raving about on the other thread for my front door? Here's another photo of the camera in corridor mode. Definitely better area coverage. I think my front door steps are really making this harder than it should be, or is this okay?

 

[tangent]

Corridor is definitely better. It's still a bit high when you think about capturing a face, but not awful. Something in the 3.6-6mm range would get better face shots but you loose some of the stuff close to the door.

Experiment. Walk up the steps during the day and at night and then try it with a hoodie or a hat on. Try the camera in 1 or 2 different spots within 18" or so of the current location and try it down low below the light as if it were a minidome or wedge as mentioned earlier.

 

[nayr]

the problem here is you have steps and people are going to be looking down, so anything high is going to get tops of heads mostly.

if you go down you can get beam out of the image, if you go out you wont see packages left on the door like u can now.

2.8mm's suck, I say it all the time heh.